6/12/2559

GetUSBDriveSerialNumberonWindowsinC++

PROGRAMMER'S
NOTEBOOK
Browse:HomeGetUSBDriveSerialNumberonWindowsinC++

GETUSBDRIVESERIALNUMBERON
WINDOWSINC++
June 1, 2012 by rafael in Programming

A B OU T M E

MynameisRafaelBaptista.I'ma
Bostonareatechnologyguy.

GettingtheserialnumberofaUSBdeviceinWindowsisalotharderthanitshouldbe.

I'mDirectorofSEOatKayak,a

(ButitsaloteasierthangettingtheUSBserialnumberonOsX!)

populartravelwebsite.I'malso
CTOofMimoco.Wemakecool

ItisrelativelysimpletogetUSBinformationifyouhavethedevicehandleoftheUSB

designerflashdrivesbasedon

deviceitself.Andyoucangetinformationaboutamountedvolumeprettyeasily.Butto

uniqueartistdesignsandpopular

matchupamountedvolumewithaUSBdeviceistrickyandannoying.

culturecharacters(likeStarWars,
HelloKittyandBatman).

TherearemanycodeexamplesonthenetabouthowtodoitinC#,visualbasic,and
similarbrokengarbagelanguages.IfyouareforcedtoprograminC#orvisualbasic

PreviouslyIwasanSEOanalyistat

gethelp.Therearealternativestosuicide.Therearesomeexampleofhowtodoit

TripAdvisor.FormanyyearsIwas

throughWMI,whichisaWindowsoperatingsystemservicewhichisslow,buggyand

agamedeveloper,helpingmake

unreliable.IfyouhavetodoitinWMI,youarebeyondhelp.

gamesforHarmonix,Apple,THQ,
LucasArts,Nickelodeon,Ubisoftand

Firsthereisthecode:

manyothers.I'veworkedon
speechrecognizersatKurzweil,
andgenomemappingatthe

#include<WinIOCtl.h>
#include<api/usbioctl.h>
#include<Setupapi.h>

DEFINE_GUID(GUID_DEVINTERFACE_USB_DISK,
0x53f56307L,0xb6bf,0x11d0,0x94,0xf2,
0x00,0xa0,0xc9,0x1e,0xfb,0x8b);

voidgetDeviceInfo(intvol)
{
UsbDeviceInfoinfo;

//getthedevicehandle
chardevicePath[7]="\\\\.\\@:";
devicePath[4]=(char)(vol+'A');

HANDLEdeviceHandle=CreateFile(devicePath,0,
FILE_SHARE_READ|
FILE_SHARE_WRITE,NULL,
OPEN_EXISTING,0,NULL);
if(deviceHandle==INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE)
return;

//togetthedevicenumber
DWORDvolumeDeviceNumber=getDeviceNumber(deviceHandle);
CloseHandle(deviceHandle);

https://oroboro.com/usbserialnumber/

MIT/WIBRHumanGenomeCenter.

S OCI A L

P ROJE CT S

1/11

6/12/2559

GetUSBDriveSerialNumberonWindowsinC++

Demangler.com
//Getdeviceinterfaceinfosethandle
AutomaticallydemanglesgccC++
//foralldevicesattachedtothesystem
HDEVINFOhDevInfo=SetupDiGetClassDevs(
symbols
&GUID_DEVINTERFACE_USB_DISK,NULL,NULL,
DIGCF_PRESENT|DIGCF_DEVICEINTERFACE);

RSZ.IO
if(hDevInfo==INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE)
Anonlineimageresizingservice
return;

//Getacontextstructureforthedeviceinterface
Unfurl
//ofadeviceinformationset.
BYTEBuf[1024];
AnonlinewebpagepreviewJSON
PSP_DEVICE_INTERFACE_DETAIL_DATApspdidd=
generator
(PSP_DEVICE_INTERFACE_DETAIL_DATA)Buf;
SP_DEVICE_INTERFACE_DATAspdid;
SP_DEVINFO_DATAspdd;

KJamBuildTool
spdid.cbSize=sizeof(spdid);
Abuildtoollikemakeorbjam

DWORDdwIndex=0;
while(true)
Anagramatik
{
if(!SetupDiEnumDeviceInterfaces(hDevInfo,NULL,
Ananagramwordgame,writtenin
&GUID_DEVINTERFACE_USB_DISK,
HTML5,crafty.jsandacustom
dwIndex,&spdid))
break;
serverapi.

DWORDdwSize=0;
SetupDiGetDeviceInterfaceDetail(hDevInfo,&spdid,NULL,
Herbarium
0,&dwSize,NULL);
Anexperimentinorganizingthe

if((dwSize!=0)&&(dwSize<=sizeof(Buf)))
datafortheSkyrimAlchemyskill
{
pspdidd>cbSize=sizeof(*pspdidd);//5Bytes!

MassachusettsElection2010
ZeroMemory((PVOID)&spdd,sizeof(spdd));
Anewssiteaboutthe2010election
spdd.cbSize=sizeof(spdd);

longres=SetupDiGetDeviceInterfaceDetail(
Cr0.me
hDevInfo,&spdid,pspdidd,
dwSize,&dwSize,&spdd);
AURLshortener
if(res)
{
HANDLEhDrive=CreateFile(pspdidd>DevicePath,0,
FILE_SHARE_READ|FILE_SHARE_WRITE,
NULL,OPEN_EXISTING,0,NULL);
if(hDrive!=INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE)
{
DWORDusbDeviceNumber=getDeviceNumber(hDrive);

if(usbDeviceNumber==volumeDeviceNumber)
{
fprintf("%s",pspdidd>DevicePath);
}
}
CloseHandle(hDrive);
}
}
dwIndex++;
}

SetupDiDestroyDeviceInfoList(hDevInfo);
return;
}

https://oroboro.com/usbserialnumber/

2/11

6/12/2559

GetUSBDriveSerialNumberonWindowsinC++

Youpassinthevolumenumber.Thisisjustthedriveletter,representedasaninteger.
DriveA:iszero.Sothefirstthingwedoiscreateadrivepath.Forexample,ifthe
mountedvolumeyouwanttogetaserialnumberforisF:,youdpassin5,and
constructadevicepath \\.\F: .
Nextyougetadevicehandleforthatvolumeusing CreateFile() .Originallythisfunction
wasmeanttocreateregularfilesystemfiles.Buttodayitcanbeusedtoopenhandles
todevicesofallkinds.Eachdevicetypeisrepresentedbydifferentdevicepaths.
Next,yougetthedevicenumber.Whenavolumeismounted,itwillbeassociatedwith
adevice,andthisfunctionreturnsitsnumber.WhytheOSdoesntjustgiveyoua
devicepathhereisridiculous.Thedevicenumberswillbelow.Typicallyanumber
under10.Dontbesurprised.Iwas.
Yougetthedevicenumberbycalling DeviceIOControl() withthehandletoyourdevice:

DWORDgetDeviceNumber(HANDLEdeviceHandle)
{
STORAGE_DEVICE_NUMBERsdn;
sdn.DeviceNumber=1;
DWORDdwBytesReturned=0;
if(!DeviceIoControl(deviceHandle,
IOCTL_STORAGE_GET_DEVICE_NUMBER,
NULL,0,&sdn,sizeof(sdn),
&dwBytesReturned,NULL))
{
//handleerrorlikeabadhandle.
returnU32_MAX;
}
returnsdn.DeviceNumber;
}

ThereisanoldwindowsAPI,in setupaip.h thatwasdesignedtohelpwriteinstallers.It

hasnowbeenobsoletedbynewerinstallationAPIs,butyoucanstilluseittoenumerate
devices.BasicallyyoupassintheGUIDofthetypeofdeviceinterfaceyouwant.Inthis
casewejustwanttoenumerateUSBflashdisks.Thatguidisdefinedatthetopofthe
file.
Yousetupforenumerationwith SetupDiGetClassDevs() ,anditerateoverthedeviceswith
SetupDiEnumDeviceInterfaceDetail() .Whenyouaredoneyouclosetheiteratorwith
SetupDiDestroyDeviceInfoList() .

Thenforeachdeviceyougetthedevicenameandnumberusing
SetupDiGetDeviceInterfaceDetail ,andmatchupthedevicenumberofeachdevicewiththe

oneyougotforthevolume.Whenyoufindamatchthenyouhavethedevicepathfor
youractualUSBflashdrive.Atthatpointyoucouldstartqueryingthedeviceitselfusing
functionslike DeviceIoControl() ,butinthiscasetheinformationwewantiscodedright
intothedevicepath

https://oroboro.com/usbserialnumber/

3/11

6/12/2559

GetUSBDriveSerialNumberonWindowsinC++

HereisatypicaldevicepathforaUSBflashdisk:

\\?\usbstor#disk&ven_cbm&prod_flash_disk&rev_5.00#31120000dc0ce201&0#
{53f56307b6bf11d094f200a0c91efb8b}

Thedevicepathforaflashdiskmuststartwithusbstor.Thisfirstpartofthepathis
nameofthedriver,whichonwindowsiscalledusbstor.Thevendorid,productid,
productrevisionandserialnumberarehighlightedinred.
Thefollowingregularexpressionswillextractthisinformationfromthedevicepath:

ven_([^&#]+)//vendorid
prod_([^&#]+)//productid
rev_([^&#]+)//revisionid
&[^#]*#([^&#]+)//serialnumber

Nexthereisamethodtorecognizeifavolumeisremovablemedia(e.g.likeausbor
firewiredisk):

boolisRemovableMedia(s32vol)
{
charrootPath[5]="@:\\";
rootPath[0]=(char)(vol+'A');

charszDosDeviceName[MAX_PATH];
chardosDevicePath[3]="@:";

//getthedrivetype
UINTDriveType=GetDriveType(rootPath);

if(DriveType!=DRIVE_REMOVABLE)
returnfalse;

dosDevicePath[0]=(char)(vol+'A');
QueryDosDevice(dosDevicePath,szDosDeviceName,MAX_PATH);

if(strstr(szDosDeviceName,"\\Floppy")!=NULL)
{
//itsafloppy
returnfalse;
}

returntrue;
}

Resources:
CreateFilefunction

MSDNReferenceforCreateFile

SetupDiEnumDeviceInterfaces

MSDNReferencefor

https://oroboro.com/usbserialnumber/

4/11

6/12/2559

GetUSBDriveSerialNumberonWindowsinC++

function

SetupDiEnumDeviceInterfaces

GetDriveTypefunction

MSDNReferenceforGetDriveType

DeviceIoControlfunction

MSDNRefenceforDeviceIoControl

DeviceIoControlfunction

MSDNRefenceforDeviceIoControl

HowtogettheSerialNumber

SerialNumbercodeexamplesinWMIandVisual

fromaUSBdisk

Basic

WindowsDriverKit(WDK)

Thewindowsdevicedrivertoolkit.Hasheaders
youmayneed

FlashMemoryToolkit

Aprogramtoviewtheserialnumber,for
debugging

DiskId32

Includesalinktoacodeexamplethatgetsserial
numbersfromharddisks

HowtoPrepareaUSBDrive

Showsasimilarmethodformappingvolumesto

forSafeRemoval

USBDevices

Tags:c++,USB,win32

19Responses
kumarAugust2,2012at23:26:38

Goodarticle,thanks.
Canyouprovidec++codeusingregularexpressionstoextracttheserial
number?

rafaelAugust2,2012at23:36:11

Iusemyownregularexpressionclass,andtoworkitrequiresa
wholebunchofmysupportinglibraries,soitwouldntmakesense
topostithere.
IknowthattheSTLnowsupportsregularexpressions.Try #include
<regexp> ,andusingthe regexp class.

https://oroboro.com/usbserialnumber/

5/11

6/12/2559

GetUSBDriveSerialNumberonWindowsinC++

Thereisatutorialonithere:
http://www.codeguru.com/cpp/cpp/cpp_mfc/stl/article.php/c15339/A
TR1TutorialRegularExpressions.htm

TsumeAugust3,2012at22:31:36

WhatiftheUSBdeviceisnotadrive?Whatifitsamouse?Oriseverything
onUSBhandledasadrive?Withoutgoingintoallthegorydetails,Ihave
putsomeadditionalcircuitryintoanoldUSBmousetomonitorsome
externaleventsbywhetherthecomputerdetectstheoldmouseornot.
Now,allIneedisthesoftwarecomponent,underWindows,thatwould
monitorthatoldmouse.Ofcourse,thethingis,Ineedtomakesurethe
programmonitorstheCORRECTUSBdevice.AnotherproblemisthatIama
Unix/Linuxperson(andcoulddothiswithasimplescriptunderLinux),but
thisaspectofWindowsisanalienenvironmentforme.Ihaveinstalledthe
freeVisualC++Express,andwhatyoumentionedinyourarticlesounds
good,butIdontknowifIllbeabletoapplyittoamouse,insteadofa
drive.
Whatdoyouthink?

JBOctober16,2012at02:17:34

Excellentpost!Howtogoaboutgettingtheserialnumberofafixeddisk
drive?Thanks.

CoreyVelanNovember7,2012at15:49:24

Greatpost!OnequestionwhereisgetDeviceNumberdefined?Icantget
thistocompilebecauseofthatfunction.

rafaelNovember7,2012at16:29:31

Thatisoneofmyownfunctions.Illupdatethearticlewiththe
implementationforthat.Butitsprettysimpleyougetitfromacallto
DeviceIOControl.

mikeNovember19,2012at20:33:46

https://oroboro.com/usbserialnumber/

6/11

6/12/2559

GetUSBDriveSerialNumberonWindowsinC++

selectDeviceIDfromWin32_USBHubwhereName=USBMassStorage
Device
IfoundonmyUSBdrives,thisstringincludesauniqueidforthedrive.

reshmaDecember11,2012at13:29:22

howtoincludethethreeheaderfiles..
#include
#include
#include
ididntfindanysourceforthesethreefiles..
pleasehelpme

rafaelDecember11,2012at23:54:15

Doyoumeanthethreeheadersfromthefirstcodelisting?Like
WinIOCtl.h?Thesearestandardwindowsheaderfiles.You
shouldhavethemifyouinstallMicrosoftsc++compiler(Visual
Studio).Itcomeswiththewindowsplatformsdk.Theseshouldbe
includedwiththat.

NormanDiamondOctober23,2013at05:38:17

#include
comesfromtheWindowsDriverKit,notfromVisualStudio.
ReshmashoulddownloadtheWDKfromthelinkthatyou
gave.
TheothertwoareintheSDK.

NormanDiamondOctober23,2013at05:41:40

AlthoughyourGUIDiscorrect,youdonthavetodoit.
DEFINE_GUID(GUID_DEVINTERFACE_USB_DISK,
0x53f56307L,0xb6bf,0x11d0,0x94,0xf2,
0x00,0xa0,0xc9,0x1e,0xfb,0x8b)
Instead,youcangetitfromtheWDK.
TousetheWDK,thislooksredundantbutyouhavetodoitthisway.
#includeap/\Ntddstor.h
https://oroboro.com/usbserialnumber/

7/11

6/12/2559

GetUSBDriveSerialNumberonWindowsinC++

#includeinitguid.h
#includeapi/Ntddstor.h

NormanDiamondOctober23,2013at05:42:55

UsbDeviceInfoinfo
isntneeded.Inordertocompile,justdeleteit^_^

NormanDiamondOctober23,2013at05:45:31

Iwilltrytocorrectaneditingerrorinmypreviousreply.
Iftheownereditsmypreviousreplyanddeletesthisone,thatwillbegood.
#includeapi/Ntddstor.h
#includeinitguid.h
#includeapi/Ntddstor.h
(TheredundancyisthatNtddstor.hhastobeincludedtwice.Thepathname
shouldntbemesseduplikeIdid.)

NormanDiamondOctober23,2013at05:50:05

Sorry,Ihavetoeditthisagain.
Afterthis:
#includeapi/Ntddstor.h
#includeinitguid.h
#includeapi/Ntddstor.h
Use
GUID_DEVINTERFACE_DISK
insteadof
GUID_DEVINTERFACE_USB_DISK

NormanDiamondNovember10,2013at17:45:59

Inthedeviceinfoinyourexample,Windowshassetthedevicesserial
numberto
31120000dc0ce201
Ibetthedevicesactualserialnumbermightbe
31120000DC0CE201
https://oroboro.com/usbserialnumber/

8/11

6/12/2559

GetUSBDriveSerialNumberonWindowsinC++

WindowsscaseinsensivityisOKforWindows,butitmightnotbeOKfor
someapplicationthatneedstoknowtherealserialnumber.
ActuallyWindowsdidmorethanjustbecaseinsensitive.Infilenames,
Windowsiscaseinsensitiveinmatchingnames,butwhenwritingnamesin
thefirstplaceitpreservesthecasethattheuserusedwhencreatingthe
file.IfyoulookinWindowsExploreroradircommand,YouCANStillSee
NamesliketHis.ButWindowsgivesusthedevicesserialnumberasifit
werealllowercase.
Doesanyoneknowhowtofindtherealserialnumber?

EricNovember21,2013at04:21:54

CanthiscodeworkinWindows8.1MetroStyleapp?

hemalvadgamaJanuary2,2015at08:25:59

Couldnotgetthistowork,doyouhavethesourcecode?Igetalnk2019
errormaybeifaliedtoaddsomelibs?

arvindhFebruary12,2015at01:29:33

Iwastryingthesameonpython,.whenisawyourpost,itriedtocompileit
(Iamnewtoallprogramming,iinstalledmingw)withthiscommand
g++findserial.cppofindserial.out
igetthisfollowingerror
findserial.cpp:2:26:fatalerror:api/usbioctl.h:Nosuchfileordirectory
compilationterminated.
cananyonepleasehelp

keekMay20,2015at08:08:29

Incaseyouneedtheserialnumbertobecasesensitive,youcanutilizethe
followingcodetoextractitfromtheregistry.
TheparameterusbDeviceIdisexpectedtobeintheformat
USB\\VID_XXXX&PID_XXXXandcanbeobtainedusing
CM_Get_Device_ID.
https://oroboro.com/usbserialnumber/

9/11

6/12/2559

GetUSBDriveSerialNumberonWindowsinC++

AlthoughmyexampleusesQtitmighthelp:
QStringExtractSerialNumberFromRegistry(constQString&usbDeviceId)
{
QStringserial
QStringListparts=usbDeviceId.split(\\)
if(parts.size()==3)
{
QStringparentNode(SYSTEM\\CurrentControlSet\\Enum\\%1\\%2)
HKEYhKey
longresult=RegOpenKeyEx(
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE,
reinterpret_cast(parentNode.arg(parts.at(0)).arg(parts.at(1)).utf16()),
0,
KEY_READ,
&hKey)
if(result==ERROR_SUCCESS)
{
wchar_t*subkey=newwchar_t[255]
DWORDsubkey_length=255
DWORDcounter=0
while(result!=ERROR_NO_MORE_ITEMS)
{
result=RegEnumKeyEx(hKey,counter,subkey,&subkey_length,0,NULL,
NULL,NULL)
if(result==ERROR_SUCCESS)
{
//findbestmatchusingtheuppercaseserialnestedintheusbdeviceid
constQStringcurrSerial(reinterpret_cast(subkey))
if(result==ERROR_SUCCESS&&parts.last().toUpper()==
currSerial.toUpper())
serial=currSerial
}

https://oroboro.com/usbserialnumber/

10/11

6/12/2559

GetUSBDriveSerialNumberonWindowsinC++

++counter
}
deletesubkey
subkey=0
RegCloseKey(hKey)
}
}
returnserial
}

LeaveaReply

Name*

Email*

Website

PostComment

PseudoFunctorsandTemplateMagic
OverloadingGlobaloperatornewanddelete

Copyright2016Programmer'sNotebook
PoweredbyWordPressandOrigin

https://oroboro.com/usbserialnumber/

11/11